Indian refiners secured Iranian crude oil after the US lifted economic sanctions on the commodity for a month, the central government said on Saturday without spilling details.

In a social media post, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas claimed there were no payment hurdles to procuring crude from Iran, denying reports that a "payment issue" had prompted a ship to change course to China mid-voyage while sailing to Vadinar in Gujarat.

"India imports crude oil from 40+ countries, with companies having full flexibility to source oil from different sources & geographies based on commercial considerations," the ministry said on X.

On Friday, maritime intelligence firm Kpler demonstrated with ship-tracking data that Iranian crude vessel Ping Shun had changed its destination from Vadinar to Dongying, a city on the Yellow River delta in Shandong province of China.

The data was picked up from the automatic identification system (AIS), which transmits a ship’s position to ensure other vessels are aware of its location.

Kpler had quoted market sources as saying the shift appeared payment-related, with sellers tightening terms, moving away from the earlier 30-60 days' credit window towards upfront or near-term settlement.

In short, the seller appeared to have secured a better financial term mid-voyage — a not too uncommon industry practice.

While denying reports on payment issues, the ministry post appeared to underscore the financial realities of cross-border trade at a time of heightened sensitivity.

“Claims on vessel diversion ignore how oil trade works. Bills of lading often carry indicative discharge ports destinations and on-sea cargoes can change destinations mid-voyage based on trade optimisation and operational flexibility,” the ministry said.

Industry sources said Ping Shun had gone “dark”, which means it has switched off the AIS transponder and the vessel’s final destination is therefore unknown at this point.

While the government has claimed that Indian refiners have bought Iranian crude oil, none appears to have reached Indian ports yet. Reliance, the country’s largest refiner, is yet to purchase any Iranian oil during the reprieve period.

However, the ministry said a vessel carrying LPG from Iran had berthed at Mangalore port on Thursday. "…LPG vessel Sea Bird carrying around 44,000 tonne Iranian LPG berthed at Mangalore, India on April 2 and is currently discharging," the ministry posted.

Sources said that LPG vessel Green Sanvi had safely transited the Strait of Hormuz, carrying 46,650 tonnes of LPG cargo with 25 seafarers on board.

Seaborne Iranian oil became available for Indian refiners for a month from March 20 after the US treasury department lifted sanctions on it to ease supply in the global market. The US-Israel war with Iran has choked supplies and pushed crude prices above $100 a barrel.

The waiver applies to oil loaded on any vessel, including sanctioned tankers, on or before March 20 and discharged by April 19, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

At its peak, Iranian crude accounted for 11.5 per cent of India’s total imports, according to Kpler. But the imports ceased in 2019 after the US sanctions. About 130-140 million barrels of Iranian crude were seaborne when the temporary sanction was lifted.